Determinants of shareholder activism of the national pension fund of Korea

Abstract

This paper identifies the determinants of shareholder activism of the National Pension Fund of Korea (NPF), and investigates its stock market reaction. In the case of article amendments, the NPF exercises its voting right actively when the firm has concentrated ownership, and does not belong to chaebols. The NPF is active when the firm has diffused ownership, and is not a chaebol affiliate if the agenda up for vote is auditor appointments. The event studies show that a long position in the NPF "Yes" vote stocks and a short position in the "No" vote stocks produce positive abnormal returns.